Thales Australia brought local suppliers together this week to present a new opportunity to play a major role in the manufacturing of the company’s Hawkei protected vehicle.

Around 20 SMEs, many from Victoria, met with Thales representatives to discuss options for the manufacture of the Hawkei’s fabricated sub-frame, vehicle components and assemblies – a significant package of work that forms a crucial part of the vehicle’s innovative design.

Thales is segmenting the Hawkei supply chain work into around 30 major work packages, and is looking for suppliers who can work in close partnership with the company in order to meet very specific quality, cost and technical requirements.

Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins said: "We are actively investigating Hawkei supply chain options, talking to many suppliers who want to be part of the manufacturing process.

"Our Hawkei vehicles are currently undergoing testing by the Department of Defence and, if we are successful in securing a manufacturing contract, we’ll be working very closely with suppliers who can deliver cost-effective, high performance components for what is an important defence program.

"Manufacturing is a crucial part of this nation’s industrial base, and we will continue to support defence industry manufacturing because this industry has repeatedly proven it can deliver vital capabilities to the Australian Defence Force."

Thales will offer the following work packages to local industry for the Hawkei program: